Historical records tell us that when mankind succeeded in harnessing energy to operate machinery that progress came to be.

From the 19th century forward generating steam to operate equipment, and then electricity to operate motors, the machines that resulted literally changed the pattern in much of what was available, for the economy and for home life itself. However, in Northwest Florida there was a chapter before steam engines and electric motors when things DID happen here.

The earlier era found British, Spanish, and early Americans successfully using upland streams, with dams and mill ponds, to add water to drive mills that brought so much into their lives. A broad story by archaeologists from the University of West Florida identified 58 water-power sites which were developed from British times forward. The water mills generated systems to operate saw mills, grist mills, a cotton gin, a textile mill, ice plants and even a generator. With each addition the local life style was elevated.

Water mills had their origin hundreds of years ago thus the mechanics were well understood by early colonial settlers in what became Escambia County. The upland areas contained numerous streams which had the proper physiographic settings for construction of dams. With a dam to create the mill pond there was water flow to harness the mill's equipment, and the local engineers had the knowledge and the means for shaping mill wheels and developing the gears and pulleys needed to generate the grinding.

The mill dams were constructed using shaped timbers, with a system of connectors which gave shape and strength to the dam. This shaping, to form the substance of the dam, was the key to what might today be termed a factory, for with the mill in place it would bring power to produce products.

The earliest mills were placed for transforming cut timbers into lumber, a key factor in the establishment of the British village which was begun and expanded locally under governors George Johnstone, Montefort Brown and Peter Chester. (Johnstone, who arrived shortly after the British takeover from the Spanish, halted added construction until a new village might be surveyed and laid out. Only then would new housing and work buildings be added.) The four new lumber mills thus were a key to what was being placed here similar to the communities along the Atlantic Coast.

The final Spanish period (1781-1821) saw establishment of six addition saw mills, put in place during the administrations of nine governors. This was a time when Spain itself was to suffer invasion and occupation, though work was continuing in the many Latin American colonies. It is likely that lumber produced in Pensacola was of assistance as construction proceeded in Spanish Central and South America.

Under United States ownership, which began in 1821, the economy expanded rapidly. Twenty-two more water-powered saw mills were established, plus three grist mills. The oncoming grist mills illustrated the agricultural development of the area and the availability of grain for grinding as food grain. It was in this period also that Ezekiel Simpson and John Forsyth developed their mill site at Arcadia.

In their water powered units pails were manufactured, lumber was crafted, and a mill was placed to fashion cotton into textile materials (a Forsyth operation). Late in the 19th century, as the area's great lumbering period began in 1870, eight additional saw mills were put on line; another eight grist mills also were put into use.

Into the new century water mill grist operations continued and even expanded. The steam powered lumber mills, in larger locations such as the Simpson and Perodi operations, became more efficient. With the passage of time, even into the depression years, several more grist mills opened, and one setting was formed for ice making. By the 1930s water powered lumber mills became a thing of the past.

The archaeological studies made late in the 20th century revealed details of the water mill sites, and showed that at many places the mill itself was located in company with several homesteads for the workmen and their families.

The ongoing technology of the 20th century ended the practicality of all such mills. Markets, too, played a role, for by the late 1900s the homemaker's almost daily call for freshly ground flour had all but ended. The labors of the archaeologists again have provided a fascinating look at on what once was, through several of the five flags historical periods.

John Appleyard is a Pensacola historian and writes a weekly historical column in the Pensacola News Journal. His 15-minute films about Pensacola are viewable, without-charge, Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in The Cottage, 213 E. Zaragoza St.